Sinker for knitting machines



Nov. 25, 1930. s w -r 1,782,486

SINKER FOR KNITTING MACHINES Fi led Sept. 21, 1928 Fig 4 IN VENTOR n BY Patented Nov. 25, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT E. STEWART, OF FRANKLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO ACME KNITTING MACHINE & NEEDLE COMPANY, OF FRANKLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A CORPORATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SINKER FOR KNITTING MACHINES Application filed September 21, 1928. Serial No. 397,359.

15 found in my Patent No. 1,602,786, dated October '12, 1926, and-in my pending applica tion "Serial \No. 284,680, filed February 12, 1928. Such additional movements of the sinkers are usually produced by cams acting 20 onauxiliary lugs with which the sinkers are provided, the lugs being located in diflerent positions so that any desired sinker or set of sinkers can be operated without actuating the others.

In using machines of this type it is necessary to keep on hand a supply of all forms of sinkers required in the machine in order to replace broken sinkersand to permit the changing of the machine to produce different atterns. In the machine shown in my pen ing application above identified, eight different sinker forms are used, differing from each other in the number andarrangement of the auxiliary lugs, and in some machines an, even greater number of sinkers is employed. The necessity for keeping a supply of all of these forms of sinkers on hand is frequently the cause of annoyance and delay. It also necessitates the manufacture of a correspondingly wide range of sinker forms.

The present invention is especially concerned with this condition and it aims to reduce the number of sinker forms which must be manufactured and supplied to users in order to meet the requirements ofth'ese machines.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of a sinker embody-' ing thls inventlon;

l Fig. 2 is an end view of the sinker shown 1n F g. 1; and

pointed out in the appended Figs. 3 ande are side views showing 'different sinker forms which can be made from the construction shown in Fig. 1. v

The sinker shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has .a beak 2, a web holding shoulder 3, a butt'portion 4, and an extension '5, having an edge 5 .which forms a lower guiding surface for the web holder. The lower edge of the butt normally rides on the sinker ring, while the lower edge 5 of the extension 5 usually rests on the upper edge of the needle cylinder. Extendmg from the upper edge of the ,butt i is an upright lug 6 similar to that which most sinkers have, this lug being provided to run in the groove of the regular sinker operating cam. Projecting from the rearward edge of the butt 4 is a vertical series of auxiliary or special cam lugs 7'. These lugs are designed to be engaged by special or auxiliar cams,

as explained fully in my pending app ication such lugs. In some instances it may be desirable to use the sinkerwith a butt exactly like that shown in Fig. 1. The'more common forms of sinkers, however, are provided with only one of the lugs 7 and this lug may be in any one ofthe six positions shown. Typical examples are shown in Figs. 3 and 4... i

Any one of these six forms may be made from the sinker shown in Fig. 1 simply by breaking oift-hose lugs which are not desired in any individual form. In the sinker shown in ,Fig. 3 all of the lugs have been broken. off except the third lug from the top, while in Fig. 4 all those have been b-r'oken off except the lowermost lug. In some cases no lugs are desired, in which event all" of the lugs are broken ofi. In other cases two or more lufgrsare required but they may be separated om'each other by considerable Any one of these sinker forms can be made from the construction shown in Fig. 1 simply by breaking off the lug or lugs which are superfluous. These sinkers are usually made of sheet steel which is relatively thin, say ten to fifteen-thousandths of an inch in thickness, so that the lugs are frangible and it is therefore a very simple matter to break off the superfluous lugs with a pair of pliers. This construction, however, makes it necessary for the manufacturer to make and supply to the machine user only the form of sinker shown in Fig. 1, or one constructed in essentially the same manner, and the machine user or knitter modifies these sinkers, as above described, to suit his own convenience. He needs, therefore, to carry in stock only one construction of sinker, and by breaking ofi' suitable lugs he can make any individual sinker form that he desires within the range of the construction provided. J

The sinkers may be manufactured by any suitable process as, for example, by dieing them out of sheet stock and milling the slots Which separate the adjacent lugs 7, or the sinkers may be punched out of sheet stock and the lugs separated from each other by a shearing operation. Such a process would not necessarily form slots but would separate the lu s from each other laterally by shear cuts. 11 fact, it is not absolutely essential that the lugs be completely separated from each other laterally, it being suflicient if the connection of the lugs With each other and with the butt of the sinker be such that the can readily be broken off.

While I have herein shown and described a typical sinker construction embodying this invention, it will be understood that this disclosure has been made rather by way of illustration than limitation and that the in vention may be embodied in a variety of other forms without departing from the.

spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, What I desire to claim as new is:

said lugs being required in some form of sinker but one or more of them being superfluous in other forms, whereby difi'erent forms of sinkers may be made by breaking off the lug or lugs which are not required for any individual form.

2. A sinker for knitting machine, having a broad butt and an upstanding cam lug proectmg therefrom, and a vertical series of 

